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Definition
There is no universally agreed defintion of social enterprise. This page attempts to list some of the more well known. Korea Social Enterprise Agency "A company or organization which performs business activities while putting priority on the pursuit of social purposes" Social Purpose *Offer jobs or social services to vulnerable social groups. (vulnerable social groups: low-income brackets, the aged, the handicapped, victims of prostitution, long-term jobless, women with severed career, etc.) *Promote development of local community and public interest. *Promote democratic decision-making process (with the participation of stakeholders including the recipients of services, workers and local residents). *Reinvest profits for the realization of social purposes. (a corporation according to commercial law: more than ⅔ of profits) Business Activities *Various types of organization are recognized including no-profit incorporation and organization, cooperative and companies as stipulated by commercial law. *Employs paid workers. *Profits made by business activities should be more than 30% of the labor (personnel) cost. Social Enterprise UK A social enterprise is a business that trades for a social and/or environmental purpose. It will have a clear sense of its ‘social mission’: which means it will know what difference it is trying to make, who it aims to help, and how it plans to do it. It will bring in most or all of its income through selling goods or services. And it will also have clear rules about what it does with its profits, reinvesting these to further the ‘social mission’ Social enterprises come in many shapes and sizes from large national and international businesses to small community based enterprises (see question 2). But they all: *Are businesses that aim to generate their income by selling goods and services, rather than through grants and donations *Are set up to specifically make a difference *Reinvest the profits they make in their social mission If you meet or aim to meet these criteria and you have these commitments expressed clearly in your governing documents then you are very probably a social enterprise. According to Social Enterprise UK, social enterprises should: *Have a clear social and/or environmental mission set out in their governing documents *Generate the majority of their income through trade *Reinvest the majority of their profits *Be autonomous of state *Be majority controlled in the interests of the social mission *Be accountable and transparent "Finding Australia's Social Enterprise Sector" Project Social enterprises are organisations that: *Are led by an economic, social, cultural, or environmental mission consistent with a public or community benefit; *Trade to fulfil their mission; *Derive a substantial portion of their income from trade; and *Reinvest the majority of their profit/surplus in the fulfilment of their mission Finding Australia's Social Enterprise Sector Social Enterprise Alliance (USA) The Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA) of the United States defines a "social enterprise" as "an organization or venture that advances its primary social or environmental mission using business methods." In the U.S, two distinct characteristics differentiate social enterprises from other types of businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies: #Social enterprises directly address social needs through their products and services or through the numbers of disadvantaged people they employ. This distinguishes them from "socially responsible businesses", which create positive social change indirectly through the practice of corporate social responsibility (e.g., creating and implementing a philanthropic foundation; paying equitable wages to their employees; using environmentally friendly raw materials; providing volunteers to help with community projects). #Social enterprises use earned revenue strategies to pursue a double or triple bottom line, either alone (as a social sector business, in either the private or the nonprofit sector) or as a significant part of a nonprofit's mixed revenue stream that also includes charitable contributions and public sector subsidies. This distinguishes them from traditional nonprofits, which rely primarily on philanthropic and government support. In the United States, "social enterprise" is also distinct from "social entrepreneurship", which broadly encompasses such diverse players as B Corp companies, socially responsible investors, "for-benefit" ventures, Fourth Sector organizations, CSR efforts by major corporations, "social innovators" and others. All these types of entities grapple with social needs in a variety of ways, but unless they directly address social needs through their products or services or the numbers of disadvantaged people they employ, they do not qualify as social enterprises. Social Enterprise Council of Canada Defines a "social enterprise" as "businesses owned by nonprofit organizations, that is directly involved in the production and/or selling of goods and services for the blended purpose of generating income and achieving social, cultural, and/or environmental aims. Social enterprises are one more tool for non-profits to use to meet their mission to contribute to healthy communities. Canadian social enterprise characteristics vary by region and province in the ways they differentiate social enterprises from other types of businesses, not-for-profits, co-operatives and government agencies: #Social enterprises may directly address social needs through their products and services, the number of people they employ or the use of their financial surplus. This can distinguish them from "socially responsible for-profit businesses", which create positive social change indirectly through the practice of corporate social responsibility (e.g., creating and implementing a charitable foundation; paying fair wages to their employees; using environmentally friendly raw materials; providing volunteers to help with community projects). #Social enterprises may use earned revenue strategies to pursue a double or triple bottom line, either alone (as a social economy business, in either the private or the not-for-profit sector) or as a significant part of a not-for-profit corporation's mixed income stream that may include charitable contributions and public sector assistance. This distinguishes them from some traditional not-for-profit corporations, which may rely in whole or part on charitable and government support. Significant regional differences in legislation, financing, support agencies and corporate structures can be seen across Canada as a result of different historical development paths in the social economy. Common regional characteristics can be seen in British Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.